By Asheesh Sabarwal
Chief Marketing Officer, Pearson India
Other than marketing, I am passionate about travel and photography. As an army brat, we were always moving and I have been through six schools, five colleges and four jobs – all in different cities in India and the world. Some of the best things I learned came not from studying and working at great institutions, but through the journeys undertaken between and within the places. You ain’t seen anything if you haven’t raised your head above your immediate environment. So go ahead, take flight and see new lands and cultures while you can, but don’t go as a tourist. Go with the spirit of a native, with intent to embrace the local culture. While in B-School, I remember reading a book titled ‘A whack on the side of the head’, which underlines the need to put ourselves out of our comfort zone to learn new things. Nothing quite gives that whack like putting yourself in a completely alien culture and watching your instincts kick in to ensure you surface up from the deep end of the pool alive and kicking. This will broaden your horizon and help you to rediscover yourself. One thing that helps navigate through alien environments is a deep connect to your roots and who you really are – it points you to your true north as you go through the learning curve. I have realized from my travels that we pretty much have the same basic needs: trust, love, encouragement, recognition and a good laugh. The degree of want varies and as individuals, neighborhoods, cities, nations and cultures, we tend to position us differently to stand out from the crowd. This sometimes drives people to do insane things. Keep calm and carry on.
While trekking through Nepal’s Annapurna range, our group woke up at 3 am to catch the sunrise over Macha Puchre. We trekked higher and were perched at a vantage point where the entire valley rolled out like a carpet. The view grew incredibly breathtaking and the zoom option in my camera helped me capture the beauty of the first rays of the sun breaking over the fish-tailed (hence the name ‘Macha Puchre’) tip of the mountain. Not surprisingly – this is also true of work – the more you rise above the nitty-gritty, the better vision you create for yourself. But it is important to get the intrinsic details right and if you don’t pay attention, you will miss the full story. Hence, you have to operate like a camera lens with the flexibility to zoom in and out.
I’ve missed trains, planes and buses on my journey and realize that I eventually managed to show up on the other side and it was never worth missing the scenery in the rush to get there. You may just cherish the journey more than the destination. You first remember the people you met whenever you think of a place – irrespective of whether they were kind or inconsiderate to you. To me, that makes a case for interacting with as many people as I can. So, whether it was a helpful bus driver in LA, or a humorous tour guide in Istanbul – their stories become the stories you will be telling others for a very long time.
Happy travels!
Feedback: asheesh.sabarwal@pearson.com
